Strangers No More
by tellurian
Summary: Fox's work is all done and he's now ready for a little playtime, but for him things just aren't so easy.(note that some parts aren't for the l'il ones but in my opinion far from obscene.)
1. Mission Incomplete

Disclaimer: All this time I'd forgotten something so I suppose I'd better throw this in I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT OWN STAR FOX. IT IS THE PROPERTY OF SHIGERU(SP?)MYAMOTO AND NINTENDO.  
  
There, it's done.  
  
  
  
  
  
Strangers No More  
Evora  
_________________________________________________________  
Mission Incomplete  
  
  
Four Spellstones and six Krazoa Spirits were all that was needed to get the planet back in order, and Fox had already completed those missions. He'd saved that gorgeous blue vixen and kicked that so-called mighty Krazoa god's ass. The payment from General Pepper came in nice and sweet, including a bonus added on for a job well done. Now was the time for a little celebration. He already had something in mind.  
  
Peppy was asleep in his chair back in the Control Room, Slippy worked on another one of his inventions, Falco was in the dock working on his ship, and Krystal--  
  
"Krystal?"  
  
Fox left the bridge and went on through the corridor and into the lounge but didn't find her there. She wasn't in the kitchen or the dining-room or the guest quarters either. Next he went out to the hangar and passed by Falco who was underneath his ship making a few repairs.  
  
"Hey Fox, you think you could give me a hand--"  
  
He went by without saying a word and headed for the deck. Sure enough, Krystal's transport was still there. Then he had to pass back by Falco on his way back into the main area.  
  
"Hey, lookin' for that pretty blue vixen, huh?" Falco came up and strode alongside him. "You sly dog. No wonders you were so into saving that planet. Just one look at her and you were hooked."  
  
"Drop it, Falco, okay?"  
  
"Man, what's got your balls in a bind..."  
  
"Where is she anyway? You seen her?"  
  
"I wouldn't tell you if I had. With that look in your eyes no telling what you'd do to her."  
  
Fox gave Falco a shove and walked off. Had to find her. Fast, before he--  
  
"Fox?"  
  
The sound of that voice brought him to an immediate standstill. The quiver was almost the same feeling he got when she grabbed his tail and yanked her staff from him back at Krazoa Palace. When he turned around, the look in her eyes was the same as the moment he'd saved her.  
  
"I said I wanted to thank you, and I meant it."  
  
She walked up and wrapped her arms around him, her delicate muzzle drew closer to his and he was about to go for it when he suddenly backed off.  
  
"No,"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Not here. I want to start off the right way with you, and this isn't right. Come on." He took her hand and led her upstairs and to the first room on the left which was his. Once getting her inside, he shut the door and locked it. So far, so good. She went into the room and looked around, first noticing the replica of his Arwing on the dresser and his photographs of him with his teammates and then one that she lifted to get a closer look.  
  
"Is this your father?"  
  
"Yes. How'd you know that?"  
  
She looked back at him, again with those dreamy eyes of hers and her beautiful smile. "He's very handsome. Looks just like you."  
  
Fox tried hard not to let show that she was slowly stealing his heart away.  
  
"And this is your mother?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"And so, what do they think of their son the hero? You have called them, haven't you?"  
  
Fox went to her and guided her hand to put down the picture frame. "They're both dead."  
  
"Oh...I'm so...sorry."  
  
"It's okay. At least now they haven't died in vain. I've finally taken care of that."  
  
Krystal was obviously confused. "I don't know what you mean."  
  
"My father was a pilot, too. As a matter of fact he used to be the leader of Star Fox, that was until one of his friends betrayed him, set him up to be trapped by one of Andross's crooked experiments, and he was sucked into a black hole way out in the edge of the universe. My mother died when I was young. I never really got a chance to know her."  
  
This time, when Krystal reached out to hold him, he held her, letting her softness rest safely in his arms.  
  
"That makes two of us," she said. "My parents were killed when my planet was destroyed. I did tell you that, didn't I?"  
  
He began stroking her silken hair and whispered. "No, you didn't."  
  
"Cerinia. Have you heard of it?"  
  
He was about to say no when all of sudden a memory faded in, bringing back a trip he took with his dad to a place on the far side of Lylat's universe. An image of children flashed in that memory, most of them trapped inside a deep hollow and at risk of being killed, for they were caught in the middle of an open war between the territories of Cerinia, and they had to be airlifted to safety because of land mines on one side and bombs dropping on the other,"  
  
"Planet of destiny," He added in the context of his own experience. "I went with my father one time to help rescue some kids displaced from a war you had there-"  
  
No sooner than he'd spoken, Krystal drew back in his arms, "You...and your father? The ones who carried us out took so much of a risk. No one else was willing to help. We were all orphans, there wouldn't have been anyone to take care of us once we returned to the homelands..."  
  
"Then I was right. There was something about you the first time I saw you at Krazoa Palace...I've seen you before...The princess," He said straight from his memory. "They kept referring to a princess."  
  
Krystal glanced down then up at him again like a shy girl meeting her date at the door for the first time. "Me. They called me that, just a nickname that stuck. I've been on my own since I was six. I did a lot of roaming the planet. Killing to stay alive, that sort of thing. The reason they thought of me as noble was because of my special ability to channel spirits, nothing more than that. I never had a home until the day we were taken out of there and sent to the Taro Kye Foundation, a large orphanage on Cerinia,"  
  
"An orphanage..." He couldn't manage going on without feeling any guilt.  
  
"Yes but the best thing that ever happened to me. My teachers were wonderful. I was very grateful to them, and to the ones who rescued us. How many times are you going to do that for me until I owe you something in return?"  
  
"You don't owe me anything, Krystal. I'm just glad you're okay and now that I have you I'm not letting you out of my sight." 


	2. Hard Call

Strangers No More  
Evora  
_________________________________________________________  
Chapter 2, Hard Call  
  
Great Fox  
After Dino Planet, Day 2  
  
Getting away to a place of solitude could be impossible sometimes. All the different areas aboard ship were either occupied with pinging or humming all through the circuitry filled walls or cameras that zoomed in whenever anyone dared move within the preset radius, and that left just about nowhere else besides sitting in the Arwing and if someone came looking, a quick duck down would have to suffice; he'd even tried it once but got no more than five minutes of peace before Peppy discovered him. The damned cameras. They were everywhere. If anyone wanted him, this time, the security system would direct them into the kitchen.  
  
"I wondered where you were hiding out,"  
  
Fox didn't have time to get up and make a dash for the door before Falco got in and ruined a perfectly fine moment of repose.  
  
"You know what? I think you're hidin' from me 'cause you don't want to hear what I've been doing for the past four years. Might make you jealous to know I've gathered valuable info on some of our enemies and put an end to a few badasses so the little ones can sleep safely at night..."  
  
The past eight years of Falco's hardly missed absence hadn't really even crossed Fox's mind for a second, neither was he in the mood for this, especially not hearing about children asleep in their warm beds at night all snuggled in while others were alone with no one to care for them, no one to feed them, no one to save them from dying until some high level bureaucrat decided that political gains could be scored with one of those Looks good on paper rescues. And so he sat at the breakfast bar with his head held low and the tip of his nose almost able to sniff up the morning squeeze of orange juice as his reinstated team member rambled on and on about a supposed highly celebrated-solo career and detailed it with a totally self-centered, matter-of-fact sort of dialogue.  
  
"...Two years down the road it was me leading the fight against that old decrepit half-wit monster Scathen and his top-notch 'turned out to be pansies' armada in X-Sector. Hey, and who says I ain't a good diplomat? I can be diplomatic when I need to. I even got a few praises from General Pepper for getting the Noll Prime Minister at Zoness to back off all those threats he made against Aquas."  
  
"Then why'd you come back, Falco..." Fox's voice barely held up from silent frustration somewhere in the middle of listening to Krystal talk about her life as an abandoned pup and facing many fears which led her to take on General Scales at his galleon. Thinking of her, he looked down into the glass and figured what he just said hadn't been heard, and for no reason stuck the tip of his index finger into the juice, stirred twice clockwise then pulled out the finger and dabbed the chilled acidic liquid off with his napkin.  
  
"Of course I'm not sayin' this to take any of the credit for saving our great universe away from you..." Falco continued. "You gave a stellar performance going after Andross and saving Dino Planet, but you know you couldn't have finished him off without a hand from a good ol' pal like me...."  
  
Fox sipped some of the juice to wash down the burning in his throat and thought of something else about Krystal. The parents who abandoned her were too poor and ill to take care of a child. A pretty young thing like her could've ended up bad off but she didn't blame them and she didn't fall victim to the situation no matter how hard it got out there on her own. Even tougher for Fox was hearing that those parents had died on Cerinia after Krystal managed to escape, then he had held her while she'd described to him the worst day of her life...  
  
Now Falco's voice faded back in. "...Don't think I haven't been keeping track of your record. I watch the news just like anyone else, Fox, and most of the time you're in it..."  
  
"Yeah, I'm in it," Finally he'd grumbled loudly enough to get some attention. "More than ever."  
  
"Oh man, not again," Falco came to the bar and leaned on it. "You and your moods. What's this one done to you? Slapped you in the face and told you she never wants to see you again like the last one?"  
  
Fox shot him a hard fixed glare without a word spoken.  
  
"Oh, I get it. You can't say 'cause she'll punish you all the way to Corneria. You know what, that sucks, Fox. You let females push you around too much. Big time with Fara-"  
  
Hot button pressed. "Leave her out of this."  
  
"The shit'll hit the propellers when she finds out about you and Krystal, if she hasn't already, especially since she gets all the news first hand."  
  
"I said--"  
  
"Nothing. You said nothing. That's the thing. Saying nothing gets you into trouble. I say you should at least feel out the new babe before you get in too high over your head, find out how she feels first about getting involved with a guy who's on the rebound from a girl with the kind of money that could've kept him set for life."  
  
The cold stare couldn't have been any stiffer. Fox pulled up from the barstool and grabbed the glass with a sturdy hand, gestured a toast across the counter then chugged it all the way down until it was empty. Not looking back, he went to the dish sanitizer, loaded it on the top rack, and from there it was finished-done with-he'd walk out, look for the next temporary hideout...  
  
"Then again, Maybe it's not just you," Falco leaned on the bar peeking over his shoulder when Fox passed by him. "You never know, that Krystal's not exactly the homely type. Bet you're not the only one with his hands on her staff..."  
  
This time he turned back to Falco with a scowl, more than ready to spit every bit of rage lingering on the tip of his tongue but the first fiery word rolled to a halt soon as Peppy came in and bluntly slapped his shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Fox, you're lookin' kind of rough this morning. Maybe it's about time you trimmed those whiskers a bit. Anyhow, I just talked to Pepper and he says he wants us in his office soon as we land at Corneria. That means no foolin' around like you guys did last time."  
  
Fox exchanged a quick glance with Falco and kept his mouth shut about the last time, eight years back, the ship docked and the team made plans to meet at a local restaurant before getting their commendations from the general for their most successful mission. Fox had opted out with the best of intentions, wanted to stay back and get a little shuteye before it was time to go see Pepper. Unfortunately, he'd managed less than a half-hour snooze before Falco came in with booze, chicks, and all sorts of crazy ideas about what two young guys were gonna do now that they'd become almost bigger than life heroes. Now visions flashed in Fox's head of the guys from the old Academy classes and some cadet girls who needed a little romantic debriefing, and after a few good hours of partying he stumbled back into his room and just about fell back through the door when he discovered Katt on Falco, legs straddling him, purring, moaning and the whole bit while he laid back in a daze of blissful pleasure.  
  
"Do me favor and stop looking at me like that." Falco rolled out a splintered glare until Peppy finally made a point-blank interruption.  
  
"So, Fox, have you talked to Krystal about her plans in the next few days?"  
  
He lowered his head a bit and scratched the nape of his neck. "Errr...Plans?"  
  
"I think it would help if we get her to wherever she's going before we head home."  
  
All was dead silent for a second or two until Falco cracked into the tension thickened air. "Get her to wherever she's going? Now that's a joke. Twenty counts...no...make it fifty...I say she'll still be right here with loverboy when we dock in Corneria."  
  
Peppy calmly removed a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to wipe down his bifocals like he must have been making his best effort to not make judgments until getting the whole story from the horse's mouth, but at that moment the horse was Fox, from whom not a neigh resounded.  
  
"Well, I guess whatever you think is the right thing to do," Peppy's eyes shifted over to Falco then back to Fox. "Your decision, you live with it."  
  
...you live with it... Those last few words couldn't be ignored and had forced him to recall his hesitation in accepting Falco back on the team and already regrets were beginning to settle in.  
  
"Am I too late to get something to eat?"  
  
They all came to attention at the sound of that alluring soft voice, and Fox...once again something rumbled through the center of him at the sight of her.  
  
"Of course, Krystal," said Peppy, offering a courteous hand to guide her into the room and to the breakfast bar. "I think Fox can handle that. Meanwhile me and Falco can go get some work done and leave the two of you alone to talk about a few important things." And he made stern eye contact with Fox before leaving, signaled Falco to go with a quick nod, then they were gone.  
  
Fox's eyes then focused unconsciously on one of the cameras perched in a corner across the room and wondered if they'd all made some sort of pact to keep a close watch on him now, especially Peppy...  
  
"Can't tell me what's going on, can you? Top secret?" Krystal sat down in the same stool where Fox had been at first. "Mums the word. I swear the three of your are all bubbles ready to burst at any second. Are you always this uptight when you have visitors?"  
  
He felt like an idiot when realizing he'd fallen into another daze again and laughed nervously to try making up for it. "...Uptight? Us? Nah, we were just talking about-"  
  
"Me."  
  
After a long blank stare he had to change the subject before she coerced him into telling all. " You say you're hungry," He went next to the fridge where the inventory panel was and tapped a button to start it. "We've got plenty. I can start you off with a cup of coffee if you'd like."  
  
"No, but I'd like a nice hot cup of tea if you've got it."  
  
He pushed the tea label on the keypad then found something else that might've satisfied her. "I brought back some of those dumbledang pods from Dino Planet. Would you like that?"  
  
By the gleam in her eyes, the answer was an absolute yes.  
  
The pod rolled out to a slot at the bottom of the side cooler and he reached in to get it then pulled a knife from the block and started slicing the large piece of exotic fruit into bite-sized cubes, spooned a good helping of them into a bowl beside the cutting board, then took it over to her. The tea was ready by the time he did that, and so he returned to the machine, got the cup and put it on the counter to the right of her bowl.  
  
"Thank you, Fox. By the way you did that I'd say you're no stranger to the kitchen."  
  
He just smiled and sat down with her and continued their conversation while observing the way she ate, slower than most vixens, as though every bit of it was something to be savored in case it was her last meal for a while. He could then feel her watching him as he checked the time and entered a balance request on his bank account.  
  
"What all does that device do anyway?"  
  
Fox put it up to his ear and listened for the protocol. "A number of things. I use it mainly to communicate with my team members."  
  
A girlish smile adorned Krystal's lips. "And for translation."  
  
After giving a quick nod, he watched the small embedded screen and retrieved his information. 50879.03. Content that his personal reserves had been replenished, he finished the transmission.  
  
"I don't remember you having that when you visited my home."  
  
"We didn't need it, there were translators just about everywhere. We had one of them aboard our ship."  
  
"You know what? It would be nice if we didn't have to use that at all..." She said between another very slow bite of dumbledang. "Like this morning, for instance, when you wondered what I was saying in my sleep and couldn't find it. We need to understand each other if we're going to be spending so much time together...that is, we will be spending time together if it's okay with your friends."  
  
This time the reference pinched at a nerve. "It's okay with me and so it's okay with them. That's final. Me and my team are like family. Now that you're here, I want you to feel like part of the family, too. Understand?"  
  
She looked at him in a way that he knew meant she understood.  
  
"And you're right about this," He leaned forward with his elbows on the brushed steel countertop and looked at the communicator. "Your lessons start bright and early tomorrow morning. We'll meet in the den, zero eight-hundred hours."  
  
She sat up straight and playfully saluted him. "Aye, sir. Bright and early."  
  
What a brilliant find, thought Fox. Finders keepers. Losers had to keep their distance and accept it. Little did she know this was just the beginning of her testing, and he'd had already made his plans and this was his follow-through for the empty slot that had remained on the Star Fox roster long enough. At last, that slot was about to become permanently filled. 


	3. A Lesson Learned

Strangers No More  
Evora  
_________________________________________________________  
Chapter 3, A Lesson Learned  
  
  
The Great Fox roared passed millions of stars in its path back into the Lylat territories en route to its scheduled landing at the site of Corneria Airfield. Twenty-four days, two hours, and eight minutes, Fox would be greeted by General Pepper and his army, humbled by the streets filled with cheering civilians, dads and sons, moms and babies, kids climbing over each other for his autograph, although most of all would be the pleasure of arriving with Krystal on his arm, showing her off a little, taking her out to the finest restaurant in town, finding a nice quiet place to--  
  
"So, this is your home. A ship floating through space,"  
  
Fox lowered the newslink he'd been reading from the telepad and saw Krystal who had just entered the lounge. He watched as she ran an index finger along the shelves nearby.  
  
"I can tell," She raised the finger to her lips and blew off a small mound of dust. "Just you guys. Seems like between the four of you, someone would take care of the housework."  
  
One look at her and he said the first thing to come to his mind. "I'm sure you could handle it better with that little shammy you've got on." After that, he started back on the newslink, getting far as two words before the disputed garment flew across the room and landed like a shroud over his head. Dazed, he yanked it off and spun around to see her as she passed him, did a double take at the sight of the gold bikini bottom that gave new meaning to the word... well...tattoo.  
  
"I was just on my way to swim. You want the dust rag? Be my guest." She winked and he nearly fell off the couch watching her waltz away then disappear beyond the doorway which led out to the pool.  
  
He held up the skirt with a smile on his face then finally realized he shouldn't have been sitting there-should have been following her lead, and so he immediately tossed the telepad on the table without concern for where it fell and was hot on the trail,  
  
"Hey, Fox!"  
  
...damn, not now...  
  
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Falco scowled from just beyond the door while Fox stuffed Krystal's petite piece of apparel into his back pocket.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
Falco poked his watch. "Ten o'clock. Time for us to take a visit down to the main generators. Don'tcha remember? Peppy wanted to make sure everything was in proper working order."  
  
Fox looked back toward the pool then at Falco, then back to the pool again. "Everything's working fine,"  
  
"C'mon, Fox, we gotta do it or Peppy--"  
  
"Have you noticed any power spikes lately? I sure haven't. Besides, I don't see why we can't check it at eleven."  
  
"We've got a meeting at eleven. Y'know, house duties?"  
  
"Okay...okay. Then house duties at eleven, but right now, we can skip the generator testing. The power's on, no problems."  
  
Falco gave him a sort of strange look then must have heard it when Krystal dove into the pool splash. "Man, Fox. You've got it bad. If you ask me, I think you need to slow down a little. For pete's sake, what'd you really know about her? Yeah, she's got some special abilities, you saved her, she thanked you...I'm assuming you didn't turn her down on that one, and now you can't keep your hands off when you don't even know the chick's last name,"  
  
Again, first thing that came to mind, "If she needs a last name, I'll give her mine."   
  
"Jeez. You're a madman," Falco stepped back, shook his head before going on his way, "See ya at eleven....I guess."  
  
Yeah. He guessed.  
  
Fox couldn't stop his fixation about Krystal, still couldn't pin it down but there was just something about her that gave him a feeling of total freedom, absolute peace. Soon enough he was inside the pool area, waiting as she swam toward him. In a few more strokes she'd reached the side where he knelt and took a rest on the edge.  
  
"Coming in?"  
  
"That depends." he shrugged.  
  
"On what?"  
  
"That you'll be the one to resuscitate me if I drown."  
  
"Very funny, Fox." She hopped out of the water and sat on the side with him. "I'm sure you're a fantastic swimmer," And she began running her fingers along the sides of his jacket, slowly pulled it off of his shoulders. "As a matter of fact, you'll probably have to save me..." She murmured with a playful push and went back in, "But you'll have to catch me first!"  
  
Accepting the challenge, he wasted no time stripping down to his standard red boxers and dashed to the far side of the pool after her, then he smashed through the ripples like a gold medallist.  
  
"You cheated!" she came up just as he got his arms around her.  
  
"But I had to save you,"  
  
"And you've done a very good job of that."  
  
Fox had a half-smile, half-grin. "Hold on, I wasn't finished yet..."  
  
She giggled at something he did then closed her eyes as they made it to side of the pool. Everything between them had been totally honest so far, total friendship, and completely unadulterated; maybe Falco thought he knew some of what was going on behind closed doors, but he knew nothing. No one knew. For Fox, this stuff never came easy. He wasn't the aggressive type, like Falco, not the kind of guy who put all of his emotions out in front for everyone to see. Fox went about his relationships with caution, much more with Krystal than any other girl he'd ever known, because after all, she wasn't just an average girl, she was mystic with magical powers and all that. Kind of daunting. Kind of chilling. He knew he'd have to get over that sooner or later,  
  
"Fox? Are you allright?"  
  
She'd caught him stalling and he was a bit embarrassed but at least he hadn't let go. "Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
Now he had to make a move or be thought of as some kind of oddball and for sure he didn't want Krystal thinking that about him. And so he made the first one nice and easy. Just a kiss. Simple, yet one that made the rest come ever so naturally...  
  
  
He watched her walk away from him after spending another morning in her company and his mind for some reason went completely blank of anything else in existence other than the seductive stride she made toward the elevator.  
  
"...I believe I'm falling in love with you, Fox.." she had said to him at the very same time he'd fallen in deep over her.  
  
  
Later in the same afternoon, he decided it was finally time to come out of the lovestruck stupor and get back to the business at hand.  
  
In the main area was Peppy with Slippy, pointing out some area of interest on the maps projected onto the overhead screens. Seems they'd been doing quite a bit of that since Krystal was around--almost like they were trying to avoid her, or perhaps they were uncomfortable with her being there, Fox didn't ask. At least not yet.   
  
Falco, still providing the evidence that he could be the annoying pest that Leon Powalski used to call him, went over and started up with Peppy over what would be on the menu for the day which started a whole huge discussion that Fox was more than happy not to be a part of. Never mind them. He went to Rob who mentioned something about a disturbance in the atmosphere ahead, and he was about to check it when Peppy called him.  
  
"Fox, could you come here for a minute?"  
  
"Yeah, Peppy, sure." He went over to join the team, saw that Peppy had marked a few areas on the main display.  
  
"This is a storm we're headed into, it's a strong energy field."  
  
"Yeah?" Fox shrugged.  
  
"I've had Rob gather some data for analysis. I think this is part of the energy source that was released when Cerinia was destroyed..." Peppy hesitated. "We're pretty close to where the planet used to be. I guess that's why Krystal's been off to herself most of the time, not saying much."  
  
Fox wanted badly to disagree but held back once again. Hell he'd been doing too much of that lately.  
  
"I guess we don't need to say anything about it to her," Peppy added. "I wonder if it'll have any sort of effect on her? Being that she's a medium and drew much of her abilities from the energy on that planet..."  
  
"Man, this stuff is creepy," Falco scoffed. "Bad enough the last girl he had was a bit psycho, but now a psychic chick? Oh man, Fox, you've got absolutely the worst luck than just about everybody."  
  
Peppy simply cut his eyes at Falco. "Oh yeah, I meant to tell you, King Earthwalker sent you a message not too long ago. He said he wants you to contact his head officer at Krazoa Palace and that there's something very important you should know."   
  
Fox didn't say a word but he was thinking just maybe Falco was right after all. Maybe he did have the worst luck as the feeling he got was that this message would be bad news. Not being the type to procrastinate, he went to his station and sat down, entered a request to speak with the officer at Krazoa Palace immediately. In a matter of seconds he'd made contact, then read the words that came up across the screen of his laptop.  
  
[We've had a slight problem since you left our planet. Our young Prince Tricky has been very agitated. Seems that he's not interested in becoming king one day. He now says he wants to be a pilot and go searching for...well....bad guys. The Queen cannot even get him to take part in our royal celebrations. He'd rather pretend he's on some sort of mission at war. We're not blaming you, Fox.. You couldn't have known how impressive he is. But the King would like it very much if you would write to Tricky as soon you can, and try explaining to him why he'll be better off a king than a spaceman. Chintor out.]  
  
Now Fox sat back in his chair after logging out and realized how he was about ready to collapse from exhaustion--  
  
"Alert!" Rob's monotone was urgent as he turned from his post on the upper level. "The storm is approaching fast. I will have to increase power to the main generators to get more fuel to the boosters. But Fox, dangerous electrical voltages have been detected along the secondary circuits. I recommend that we all stay here at the bridge just in case we have to make any sudden maneuvers. And you might want to check the lavatory in your room, Fox. The monitor indicates the shower is in use."  
  
"...Just great..." Fox shut the laptop case and got up, glanced back and Peppy who looked worried, Slippy who appeared a bit uptight, and Falco, looking all smug as he probably had some dirty thoughts about Krystal again. Fox just glared at him and walked off.  
  
Back upstairs to his room, his desk lamp was on, all the pieces of Krystal's jewelry had been placed carefully on the bed, also were a few articles of clothing that he'd already put out for the trip on his garment rack near the closet. Hanging beside them was Krystal's top and the tunic skirt/shammy sort of thing that barely covered anything and he was starting to get a bit worried about her, especially since Falco hadn't seen Katt in months and he was starting to look at Krystal whenever she was around him like a crow at a fine piece of meat. Fox slid his fingers onto the goldish halter and then the skirt and shook his head, "First thing we'll do is get you something decent to wear," and looked toward the bathroom. She had placed her staff beside that door the previous evening. Fox hadn't paid it much attention until he turned over in the middle of the night and saw the thing glowing a bright shade of green, even stronger than it had when he received the upgrades. Now it glowed again.  
  
He went to the bathroom and knocked three times.   
"Krystal? Are you allright in there?"  
  
The water splashed on the tiles, her voice came softly over it, "Yes...I'm fine. Fox, would you mind coming in here for a moment?"  
  
She had to be kidding. He'd activated the switch that opened the door and entered without any hesitation, then slowly, he went and stood next to shower, couldn't help but watch the cast of her shadow on the steamy glass surround.  
  
"Yeah? Something wrong?"  
  
"Shampoo. Do you have any?"  
  
"Uh..." Fox looked around, spotting a bottle on the counter near the sink. "Yeah.." he grabbed it, then carefully opened the door just enough to hand it in to her. "..But Krystal, I think you'd better hurry because we've got a pretty bad storm coming..."  
  
"Allright," she answered as she took the bottle from him, and he stayed there just long enough to smell the sweet hint of zenberries as she began lathering with the shampoo.  
  
Soon afterwards he returned to the bedroom, telling her to call him if she needed anything else, got as far as the other side of the door when the glare from the staff suddenly flashed in his eyes. Just about blinded him. Damn he'd had enough torment from that thing already. Had to grab it....  
  
Krystal screamed. The lights flickered.  
  
Fox dropped the staff, rushed back to shower and practically tore the door off of its hinges getting into the place where he found her lying unconscious, water coming down on her face. At that point it was all reflex in a steamy haze, splashing in and getting her into his arms as his clothes and fur got soaked to the skin. In a frenzied rush from the bathroom to the bedroom, he'd carried her, then laid her face up on the bed.  
  
What the hell was this? His mother was dead... His father.... Now the girl he loved was gonna die in his arms? No way.... No....  
  
"Fox? Fox!"  
  
Then came pounding on the door.  
  
"Fox!" Peppy shouted from the other side. "We were just hit by a strong electrical strike. We had a malfunctioning generator. Hey, you two okay in there?"  
  
He couldn't think. His heart raced. He panted.  
  
"Hey Fox, open up!" yelled Falco from behind Peppy.  
  
The panic rose to triple digits as he ran back into the bathroom to get a towel and returned with it, spread it across Krystal's body and didn't dare let her be anymore exposed to them than she already had been ...especially Falco..  
  
"Open One!" he commanded and the door slid open just as he bowed down to listen for her breathing.  
  
His teammates hurried in.  
  
"Fox? What happened?" Peppy arrived first.  
  
"I don't know...I don't know..." Fox couldn't think of what to say but had already tilted Krystal's head back slightly then pinched her nose and gave her two short breaths.  
  
"Jeez, Fox! What happened to our ten o'clock routine check, huh?"  
  
Fox placed the palm of his hand onto Krystal's chest and began pushing gently. "Not funny, Falco,"  
  
"Should we get a medic?" Peppy asked.  
  
"No time--" Fox kept going. Two breaths. Fifteen depressions. Listen. Again. Two breaths. Fifteen depressions. Listen. "...Come on... Come on...."  
  
More. Couldn't stop.  
  
Peppy's hand rested on his shoulder. "Fox, I think she's--"  
  
"NO!" Fox wailed. He then raised her up and shook her over and over again, knowing it wouldn't do a damned thing but he'd never had the chance to bring back his mother or his father. "What the hell are you always telling me, Peppy..." he laid her back down and started breathing into her lungs again. "You tell me to never give up..."   
  
Peppy said nothing, and just as Falco and Slippy, looked on in horror,  
  
Minutes passed.  
  
This time, Falco grabbed Fox's arm and was shoved away right at the same time Slippy spoke.  
  
"Hey, I think you did it, looks like she's breathing..."  
  
So much adrenalin pumped through Fox that he couldn't stop trembling after realizing that he'd revived Krystal, then thought of what had caused it and loathed himself for his own carelessness-- He nearly collapsed when seeing her eyes open and was barely able to catch his own breath. At last, all he could manage was to kneel at her side and bowed his head in silence while holding her hand.  
  
On the floor behind them, the staff glowed brighter. 


	4. Tears

Strangers No More  
Evora  
_________________________________________________________  
Chapter 4, Tears  
  
  
After tossing and turning half the night, Fox was up and out at 0500 hours to get a good estimate of the damages caused by the magnetic storm. He went first to the bridge only to be greeted by a complete system malfunction, and of course Rob, who had managed holding a steady course with limited use of the navigational instruments. "We are at less than one-fourth normal capacity," stated the robotic arm of the Star Fox team. "If we are struck again, the Great Fox will suffer irreparable damages."  
  
"Yeah...thanks Rob," Fox replied tiredly and made his way across and to the elevator, took it down to the partially-lit the hangar then went out to the landing dock where Krystal's transport was parked head-in beneath the outer canopy. A few more steps and he was right upon the old vessel that looked already weathered and dull in the foreground of a starry black sky. The canopy shielded the temporary hideout now that it was no one else's business in outer Lylat that Krystal had come aboard the Great Fox, and was Fox's decision to keep it that way by making sure the craft stayed well hidden until Slippy cleared a spare port for permanent docking. In the meantime, he took out his scanner and walked slowly around the ship, aiming steadily at each section, downloading the preset specifications for later use if any repairs were needed. Once finished, he keyed in a code that would give him access to the ship's statistical and ownership history. In a matter of seconds the readout came up on the scanner's small rectangular screen:   
positive source downloading.... 7839.3894 centoms traveled. Triple force-field shields operational. Standard defense weapons only. Initial license granted, G.O. Scales...   
  
"Scales..." A lingering distaste hung in Fox's mouth and a twinge of searing hatred shined in his eyes as the thoughts embedded in his memory found familiarity in that ship. He then nodded, gradually recalling Ice Mountain and a hovering ship that dropped Prince Tricky onto the club-wielding Sharpclaws below; either it was an exact replica or the exact same one, Fox would've bet all of his change in the bank on the latter. A closer look at the ship's side revealed the three-hooked symbol which adorned on General Scales belt, and beside that was another design in the form of a leaf. He then wondered how the hell did this ship end up with Krystal and had the urge to run back up to his room and frisk her down in places he hadn't tried yet until realizing that probably wasn't such a good idea at this point. After all, she'd put all of her trust in him and deserved as much in return.  
  
Finally he turned off the scanner and headed back for the bridge where Rob managed holding steady despite all of the warning lights and buzzers going off around him.  
  
"All incoming and outgoing communications are suspended until repairs can be completed." Rob reported as Fox sat down in his chair, stored the scanner, then logged on to his laptop to check if any private messages got through before the communications link crashed.  
  
There were two. The first came from Bill Grey. ----McCloud, you sly dog, you. It's about time you made good on your promise and stopped by Katina, don't you think? Besides, I'd like to meet this Krystal of yours. You've got the guys here slobbering with envy. I have about fifty of them who want to know if there's any openings on the Great Fox(lol). "Yeah, maybe mine," Fox said to himself and opened the second message. The header was series of letters and numbers followed by a time stamp. Usually he didn't open that sort of message because it could've been a package disguised as legit when it was really a hack, but figured Rob must've done a general check before patching it through from the main server.   
  
-----O 4151425122 V 23:09 Congratulations, Fox, on another successful mission. You are now Lylat's most famed mercenary. Let's see how long you can hold the title.  
  
He sat for a moment, not really re-reading the message, but hearing the voice that would have spoken it. Those words, that voice, a challenge placed firmly in his hands by none other than the enemy he knew had been laying in wait for the past eight years, regrouping, constructing newer, better weapons, an enemy so vile that he would seize and kill anyone who got in the way of his quest to finally capture the leader of the Star Fox team.  
  
"I'm not playing your game anymore, Wolf...." He looked up, in the direction of the bedroom where Krystal slept, briefly re-evaluating what it was out of life he really wanted and what it would do to him if something happened to her...  
  
"Snap out of it, loverboy," Falco had come in and slapped Fox over the head with a rolled up magazine. "We've got too many problems for you to be sittin' here with your head in seventh heaven."  
  
Fox looked around and checked the time then got up. Peppy and Slippy were at the map console with Rob, the time was six-thirty, and then was Falco, wide awake and in his face.  
  
"The whole system's goin' downhill as I speak, Mister 'this-ship-can-repair-itself.' As of right now Rob can't even steer the thing let alone get it on track towards Corneria. The best we can do is fly in circles until Slippy gets things back in order. I think you know that pretty much means we're stuck out here, right?"  
  
For some unexplainable reason he wasn't feeling the concern about his ship for not being able to pull out of his fixation with Krystal.  
  
"Hey, Fox! What's wrong with you today anyway? Man, you've changed a lot since I've been gone..."  
  
Falco's voice trailed off as Fox walked away. The elevator doors closed, the lights dimmed slightly as the lift rose slowly to the next floor but he didn't give it much attention, not even the brief flickering when the door opened up again. He went straight for his room, using the manual control to open the door and went in to check in on his coveted guest who should have been resting comfortably, yet when he found her walking about the room while sporting his loaned blue robe, gathering the few items she'd brought aboard and packing them into a small case on the bed.  
  
"Wait a minute...what's...all this?"  
  
"I'm leaving."  
  
His green eyes starkly brightened. "Leave... You can't....your ship..."  
  
"Your friends love you to death,"  
  
"Aw c'mon, Krystal,"  
  
"But not me... And Falco just couldn't wait until you stepped out so he could get the chance to get his hands all over me,"  
  
"What-!"  
  
"Not to worry, he didn't get far. But he did tell me all about that girlfriend of yours.....Fara, is it? And she'll be waiting for you when we arrive in Corneria. And you made sure of that when you called her to let her know when you would be getting there,"  
  
".....I'll be damned..." Fox grumbled under his breath about Falco and was glad to know the robe had sufficed as a temporary coat of armor. "Whatever he's told you about me and Fara doesn't matter--"  
  
"Oh it doesn't?"  
  
"She's my ex-girlfriend, Krystal. Ex, as in former...no more. And yes I called her because she used to be a member of the team...well, sort of an honorary member, but I did that before you came aboard, and even so, it wouldn't have meant much because we're-"  
  
"On and off again," She concluded. "That's what Falco told me,"  
  
"...idiot.." He sighed heavily, regretting his knee-jerk decision to let the blue-feathered brute back on the team. "What else did he tell you?"  
  
"Well... You were going to marry her, but at the last minute she decided to call it off. What could you have done to her to cause that, Fox? Surely you didn't cheat on her?"  
  
Another sigh. "No, I didn't cheat on her, Krystal."  
  
"Then why didn't she marry you?"  
  
"Personality conflict. She just didn't want..."  
  
"Oh please, don't stop there."  
  
"Fara knew long before the day of the wedding that she wasn't really ready..." He didn't have to wait for the next question, knew what she wanted by the way she leered at him. "I was gone for six straight months. My first mission against Andross and a whole lot of bloodshed. Guess it got to me, made me think about the future."  
  
"Future? You mean kids. So, she wasn't ready for that?"  
  
"She didn't want any. At first it didn't really matter to me, not before..."  
  
"Before? Andross?"  
  
"Before I realized just how different we were. She had this idea that we were going to settle down in a little house back home and live happily ever after..."  
  
"Sounds nice."  
  
He fell silent, his eyes fixed on her as she went back to folding stuff into the little black case while her bushy blue tail swirled hypnotically, seductively, to the beat of some strange harem-like song that kept playing in his head for quite some time now. Watching that brought back his memory of the message from Wolf that got him thinking about the future and how he wasn't going to stick around much longer for the war games; destroying Andross had been his mission, and now that it was over, he was going to return to Corneria, become a regular denizen, live in a regular home, find a decent job--  
  
"Who am I kidding?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
He was nearly embarrassed for letting his thoughts escape aloud and knew he needed to explain. "My home is here. Any family of mine will have to live here and my wife would have to understand what I do for a living and why I do it."  
  
Krystal stopped what she was doing and looked at him with her eyes gleaming, her head tilted slightly. "And so, Fox, why do you do it?"  
  
The tail kept swinging behind her...brushed once against his leg, and he felt a strange twinge along the core of him and looked over at his desk, seeing the photos of his deceased parents.  
  
"Every one of us has a responsibility, but there's a few of us that have something a little different built in. We can't settle for waiting and watching someone else do what needs to be done. We have to go out and do it ourselves even when it seems we don't have a chance in hell of succeeding."  
  
"Yes," She nodded. "That's what it was when you didn't give up on saving me, wasn't it?"  
  
Not waiting for an answer, she moved forward, slipped her arms around his waist and nuzzled her nose in his ear. "...And I believe I haven't thanked you enough yet. Perhaps it would be easier for me if we got out of here... Just the two of us. I know of a place,"  
  
He'd almost allowed her to coax him into it when he thought of what Peppy might say if he dared to leave now. "No, I...I don't think we should-"  
  
She'd quickly hushed him by pressing her fingers onto his mouth. "...The same place we first met. But this time, no nasty generals or mad scientists. Just you and me. Unless your crew doesn't trust us going away together..."  
  
They didn't trust her but he wouldn't tell her so. Just like he couldn't tell her about the ship and how bad of shape they were really in...  
  
"I suppose we could," said Fox with almost the same uncertainty as when Krystal first arrived aboard his ship. However he realized it would be better to get her away from things she didn't need to know about, then saw images of a honeymoon instead of the same old command center day in, day out. "Hey, maybe that's not such a bad idea after all."  
  
"Well then," she looked down at the small case that she'd almost completely packed. "Guess I should get something bigger and prepare for the trip..."  
  
"Oh yeah, I wanted to order some extra clothes for you. The comlink is out. That means I couldn't contact anyone to make a delivery, so I had Rob log on to our machine port downstairs. There's a few pieces waiting for you to try on down there."  
  
She smiled. "That's so nice of you."  
  
"No problem. I've done a scan on your ship. Me and Slippy can do a few quick repairs. Probably won't take more than a two hours, three at the most. Remember, if you need anything--"  
  
"I know. Call."  
  
He nodded, but then had something else. "I was about to say, if you need anything, I'll have an eye on you..." Then he held up his wrist to show his communicator, pressed a button, and an image of the machine area downstairs came up on the PDA. "The dressing room is right there. Sure would be nice if you'd leave the door open,"  
  
Her cheeks had blushed to a deeper blue when she realized he was serious.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll be a private thing...just between us. I'll have Rob circle for us while we're on Dino planet. Doing that'll change our arrival time in Corneria, but that's okay, I wasn't in any big hurry to get back there anyhow."  
  
The details of the trip had been worked out before Peppy got the chance to make any objections. Slippy was almost finished with the repairs on Krystal's ship, the flight path had been plotted, and it had been decided between Fox and Krystal to be gone for at least a week-long enough to get to know each other better, much better, and finally be together, just the two of them.  
  
"Now Fox, the last thing I want is to seem like the bad guy here," said Peppy. "If anything I encourage your relationship with Krystal but I just think you're jumpin' the gun a bit. You get out there and something goes wrong, how do you think we'll get to you? The ship suffered lots of damage, remember?"  
  
Fox saw Falco over at the water fountain. "You're forgetting about our old friend over there. He's got a ship, he'll be there if I need him."  
  
The look on Peppy's face was hardly pleased but Fox didn't stick around to try explaining himself any further and followed his initial plan of going out to the dock to check on Slippy's progress with the repairs. For the next thirty minutes he was there, giving Slip a hand when and trying his best not think about Krystal but then he remembered something that Slippy had said previously.  
  
....You're not shy, are you, Fox?....  
  
No he wasn't which was the darn reason he couldn't continue faking interest in watching fuses being changed a few new wires being run while his PDA gave him nice live colorful shots of his honey as she shimmied in and out of an ample selection of outfits and finally seemed to be doing things she knew would crack his attention like a whip. He'd get in trouble for this. Deep trouble. But to hell with caring about anything else anymore-for the first time in his life he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it, and this time, nothing would get in his way.  
  
"Hey Fox! Where'ya going?"  
  
From the front of the ship, he glanced back at Slippy, "I'll be back." was all he said before walking to the exit and taking the elevator down to the next level.  
  
The machine port was a large area with three separate entrances from a corridor loop near the rear of the ship. The first entrance housed all the main circuits and controls to the port itself and it used a private access code no one else had except Fox and Slippy. The next entrance contained data storage for the scanners that retrieved physical information on everyone who boarded the ship, this entrance was accessible only to Fox, Slippy, and Peppy, and it was also how Fox got the clothing sized perfectly for Krystal. The third entrance was where Krystal had gone in. It was an open area for everyone, as a matter of fact, it had even been visited by a group of school kids on a field trip to see what living in outer space was like. Being called the machine port, it was filled with machines of different shapes, sizes, and functions. Material was developed in house by optical synthesis-a process that produced fabric virtually, using extremely high-powered imaging onto material samples that created exact molds going directly into a fabricator, the machine then crafted rolls of usable material which was much sturdier than conventional methods. From this, the only other thing needed was the scan of the client along with the system's embedded style planner, and in a matter of hours the wardrobe would be complete.  
  
He turned to the second door, entered his code and went directly to the main controls and temporarily shut off the cameras, then made his way into the machine port, passing by the fabricators on his way to the private dressing area until he finally got to Krystal. She'd been so busy changing that he'd managed sneaking up on her which gave her a such a good scare that she grabbed the first garment from the bench to cover up with.  
  
"Oh, Fox, it's you..." She sighed with relief but still held the piece in front of her.  
  
"Yeah, who were you expecting?"  
  
She just kind of looked down and backed up to the clothing shelf.  
  
"Don't tell me Falco's had his claws on you again-"  
  
"No," She then stepped forward again and grasped onto his forearm. "No...he hasn't done anything else. I think he got the message the first time. It's just that....well, this is a very large ship, the largest I've ever been on and it's sort of frightening at times. I feel like someone's watching me."  
  
He tapped the screen of his communicator as she let go of his arm. "That was me, remember?"  
  
She then looked passed him to the security camera that on the far wall that was still aiming directly into her dressing stall. "I know it was you watching me, but it still felt like someone else was there."  
  
"I blocked all the other outgoing transmissions before you came in here. That picture didn't go anywhere else except," tapping the PDA again, "Right here."  
  
Still she didn't seem that convinced.  
  
"Krystal, I wish I could prove to you some kind of way that this ship is secure but I just don't have a way of doing that. You'll have to take my word for it, and I thought by now you'd trust me that much."  
  
"I do-"  
  
"Well is there something you're hiding from me?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You sure are holding that piece of cloth pretty tight. You're not hiding any special weapons under there I hope. If you are I'll have to confiscate them right away,"  
  
"No," She smiled at his sly grin and playfully tickled the underside of his muzzle. "No secret weapons, but something else you might enjoy,"  
  
Next she lowered the garment, positioned herself directly in front of him as to block that camera, then they kissed, not for long, but by the end of it he'd knew he'd become so visibly aroused that she couldn't have had any questions about where this was going. Since learning early in life to always be prepared, he went out to the fabricator and pulled off a few yards of material that he intended to keep her comfortable with then returned to the dressing room and closed the door. Krystal was seated at the end of the bench looking a bit nervous as she'd draped herself with a long mesh cloak. He then proceeded to lay down the material, got down on his knees and bulked it up a bit where he wanted her head to lay, then outstretched a hand to her. She then dropped the cloak and carefully took hold of his hand, slid from the bench a bit unsteadily, and slowly onto the floor.  
  
"You know if we had kids together, they would probably look very interesting." She said and took a strikingly seductive pose upon the soft white material. "Tan and blue?"  
  
Pleasurably stunned and eager at the same time, he went for it right away, untying the bandana and pulling it off of his neck with a fast flick then put it aside, unfastened his belt, made a few more adjustments before lowering onto her.  
  
"Tan and blue. And I'll be proud of all fifteen of them..."  
  
"Fifteen!" Her voice wavered and her breath skimmed the fur on his ear.  
  
"Eight girls, seven boys," He'd seen it in a dream one night, and most of the time Fox was real believer in his dreams. "The girls will be beautiful like you and the boys'll be mercenaries like me..."  
  
He pushed a few strands of hair from her face and they kissed again.  
  
"Oh god, Fox... No wonders your ex was squeamish about you. You keep this side of you very well hidden."  
  
"I have to. I'm a private kind of guy...what's between us stays between us..." He stopped her from speaking again with another kiss then raised up just enough to watch her breasts rise and fall as she breathed,. "Nice..." He whispered and felt the tip of her bushy tail flutter on his thigh just as she whined high and loud, perhaps so piercing that it could've carried further had he not placed a gentle palm over her mouth and begged her to be quiet. At the same time he explored her tenderly sweet surroundings with the tips of his fingers. Then he felt her gritted teeth against his other hand when he dabbled at her nestled tuft of warm fur, and he soon moaned with the exuberant pleasure of having her, no matter that he'd had to work a bit until finally, she relaxed with his undulating movements.  
  
"I'm sorry...."  
  
"Shhh," He held two fingers to her mouth again. "It's okay. We're taking it slow, remember?" He rolled onto his back so that she could be above him. "See? You're in control now, Krysie. Go for it."  
  
She positioned herself above him, her back arched, allowing him a magnificent full frontal view of her svelte curves, and this time she yelped louder with the first sharp thrust and gasped as she felt him extending within her. This occurred far more than once-in long yiffing outbursts, then quelled at each break until finally came the strong tingling sensation that rippled from his torso to his spine and surged from the base of him to the core of her, saturating her until she collapsed on top of him and began nuzzling his ear with her nose.  
  
A while longer and he rolled over with her, then he rose up, noticing how she looked passed him to the dressing room door that had somehow come open again and the camera that was aimed directly on them. Looking back at her pinched at his heart; she was crying.  
  
"Stop," He petted the wetness from her face and pulled the garment she'd held over earlier from the bench and gave it to her to cover up with again. From there he made the necessary adjustments to his own clothes and got up, told her to finish dressing and pick out whatever she wanted and that he'd have her things brought up and packed.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't go--" She got up quickly. "Please don't leave me down here alone. Please..."  
  
She'd tugged him back and from that he couldn't just walk away.  
  
And after promising not to leave her, he stepped out of the changing room and closed the door behind him, and for a moment he just stood there with his eyes focused on that camera, knowing it couldn't have been online unless the red light was illuminated, then for some reason the fur at the nape of his neck stood on end and then he snarled on instinct. Something bothered him and he couldn't ignore it when he took two steps and looked back toward the changing room, then turned around again to look at the camera, just catching the glow of red light that flickered then went off. 


	5. The Unexpected

Strangers No More  
Evora  
_________________________________________________________  
Chapter 5, The Unexpected  
  
  
The area looked like a whole army had received their orders with luggage scattered around the dock's burnished metallic floor. Falco just looked at the disaster and shook his head.  
  
"I've heard of packrats but holy crud, Fox, it's like an air terminal in here. You sure it'll be just you and her? Or maybe there's something about your future she hasn't got around to telling you yet...like the pitter-patter of little feet."  
  
"Yeah, very funny," Fox walked around the ship, stepping over the long trail luggage on his way to Krystal as she was near the storage area, pen and paper in her hand. But instead of going right up to her, he went and snuck in from behind, making not a sound before covering her eyes which startled her just a little, then removed his hands and cupped one over her ear. "Nope, keep 'em closed...I've got a surprise," He slipped his arms around her waist and held the gift in front of her. "Now, open."  
  
What it was should have made her eyes sparkle and gleam and blaze with excitement, which they did, sort of. Just not like he was thinking they should have.  
  
"Oh," she smiled acceptingly. "A....a....what is it, Fox?"  
  
"Can't you tell? Your own personal communicator. I had Slippy make it for you....See?" He held her wrist after opening the clasps with a few clicks, then carefully snapped it on, proud at last that it was a nice secure fit. "I even had him design it in blue, to blend right in."  
  
She just kept looking at it like it was some sort of unidentified object strapped on like a vise, unsure of what she would say, and of course, unsure of how to use it.  
  
"Here," Fox tapped a button. "It's on...." He tapped another one to show her how to change the screen's brightness and contrast when all of a sudden Peppy came in and decided on starting up a substantial conversation with Falco about whatever and now what should have been a magical moment was totally blown....  
  
"Ship's ready." Slippy reported pertinent information after which he removed his cap and waved it once before moving on to his next assignment, and for some reason again Fox's attention went up to the security camera, its glowing red lamp constantly on, causing him to wonder about the possibility of someone else actually coming along with them on this trip-  
  
"We didn't find anything."  
  
Peppy snapped him out of the trance.  
  
"You didn't find anything where?"  
  
Sometimes, Peppy would look at him like he was a complete asinine jerk and this was one of those times. "All the circuits are clear. That camera you were talking about in the machine port is working just fine. No malfunctions. Slippy ran the check himself. He says it was probably just some other light source in the room that made it look like it was lit."  
  
In all the confusion Krystal had walked away to check a piece of luggage and now Falco was on him again.  
  
"That was lame. You gave her a communicator? As a gift? Why didn't you just go all the way and get her the toaster-oven, can-opener combo? No, maybe you could've even given her a set of nice new tools she could fix her own ship..."  
  
Without a comeback Fox just stood there, eyes squinting a glare.  
  
"Okay, I'm through. But I think you'd better wise up or you'll end up one lonely old dude like you know who," Falco knelt over and cocked his head towards Peppy. "That's as bad as it gets."  
  
  
A communicator.  
  
If she was going to be a member of the team, she'd need it. And she would be a member of the team without question. What did anyone else need her to do? Take the skill test? Handle weapons? Curse like a man?  
  
Good thing I've finally got you guys off my back for while and get down to some real business....  
  
Calm skies. No sign of intergalactic disturbances or cluttered fields of magnetism. All clear from the bridge. Comlink functional. The only other sound besides the constantly beeping radar was Krystal moving about in her ship, stowing the last of their combined items while Fox honed his skills on the controls of a larger, weightier star cruiser.  
  
Distance from DP was 220 centoms, or the equivalent of two and one half hours Lylat Time. The duration of the flight would be spent plotting a course straight into Thorntail Hollow, the best place, according to Krystal, where she would show him a spot that had never been revealed to him, one that she knew very well. She called it perfect, said they would be in total peace, and she would offer him nothing less than her full and undivided attention. A smile rose onto his face as a few wicked thoughts came to mind.  
  
"You know, Fox, in Cerinia, we had a custom,"  
  
A raspberry-colored printed skirt flashed in the corner of his eye and diverted his attention away from the glaring instrument panel, then after noticing the sleeveless black top bound at her cleavage with a single zigzag strap, everything else around him didn't matter anymore as much as seeing her with two bottlenecks of ale clinched between her fingers in one hand, and a bottle opener in the other.  
  
"These rings on my tail aren't just there for looks. They're actually symbols of my sect. I'm never supposed to take them off, that is, not until I'm married."  
  
"Okay," Fox answered with a nod. "So what happens then? I mean, with the rings?"  
  
"They're replaced with ones from the sect of my....husband."  
  
There was that twinge again. The same one that kept happening whenever she said or did something that made him believe they were meant for each other, and finally he looked away from the controls, to her.  
  
"I purchased this back at Cape Claw after hearing that you had defeated Andross. I thought you might like a little celebration,"  
  
She placed one bottle on the console holder between them, the other was perched in her lap where she quickly popped the cap with the opener, giving him a delicious eye-candy when the contents inside fizzed and spurted up the sides then splattered onto her thighs. She just giggled and looked at him like it had been most intentional just before settling down. "Ooops, I almost forgot. We've already started celebrating, Fox, haven't we?"  
  
"You're so right, but we haven't finished..." Those words led him to his next move, which was leaning over the middle and licking away a few spots of the sticky drizzle from her soft wetted thigh.  
  
"Oh, Fox.....kinky..." She cooed as he rose up again and returned to his position at the controls.  
  
"Much obliged. That does it for me though. I never drink and fly."  
  
"You really know how to play it safe, don't you?"  
  
"Not nearly enough..." He then recalled the spontaneity and careless lack of protection back at the machine port. Now, flashing back to the present, he watched her take a lengthy swig from the bottle before focusing his attention back onto the console, to a faint line of blips forming at 260 degrees; not a real big deal but maybe enough to keep an eye on just in case. Probably no more than a wave of drifting metallic fragments left behind in the storm's wake, he figured, and so he made necessary adjustments to the coordinates and engaged the autopilot. Once completing that procedure, he got up to stretch a bit, moved about the cabin, familiarizing himself with all of the compartments, checked around door seals and such. One thing he'd learned back at Corneria Defense Academy was to always become thoroughly familiar with whatever you're flying so that in the case of an emergency, you'd know your way around the panels and switches in the dark when and if necessary. This area wasn't very wide, just a passage for getting from the front to the back of the ship, except right behind him was the sleeping area, where Krystal had obviously done some customizing with a set of swag curtains and bottles of fragrances and sachet tucked into cubbyhole behind the bed. Next door was the lavatory which included a single occupant shower stall along with the standard facilities. Conclusively, the ship was enough to live in for a short period of time--he surely couldn't see himself spending much more than the few hours it took getting to Dino Planet in it though, but what he could see was getting comfortable, even taking a few sips of that drink like Krystal had offered....  
  
"Fox? We're not expecting a welcoming party, are we?"  
  
He returned to the front, took his seat once again. "No. Why?"  
  
"The radar. Those blips are getting stronger. More like ships than just floating fragments in space."  
  
He studied the display and counted seven blips that were getting stronger just like she'd said.  
  
"I think you're right, Krystal."  
  
"Should we turn back then--?"  
  
"No. Not with the main ship disabled. If it's an enemy line I'd be leading them right into it. I'll just try evading. I know you've got standard fire on here. Anything else?"  
  
She held the bottle tightly against her tummy, gripping it with both hands. "Not anything I know of..."  
  
He made a quick check of the lasers and reached across the console, petted her knee gently.  
  
"Don't worry, honey. We're close enough to DP to make it regardless. Just strap in, hang on, and let's see how good we really are together." 


	6. Doctrine & Allegiance

I do not own Star Fox. This is my way of getting away from the rest of world and doing something to ease the mind. I'd be totally insane otherwise.

Strangers No More

Ev^-^

_________________________________________________________

Chapter 6, Doctrine and Allegiance

How good they were together depended on Fox's ability to keep his focus on the ships instead of Krystal. Too bad he was having some slight difficulty with that. He watched her pull out the comlink. Made a few last-second adjustments to the indicators. Fluid and calm with her movements, she picked up the com and held it to her mouth. "Rob, this is Krystal. Looks like we'll be needing help out here soon as we can get it."

"Affirmative," Rob replied over a waves of static. "I'll patch you over to Falco."

Krystal hung up the com and raised the speaker volume. She reached above her to flip off the row of switches that operated the cabin and exterior lights, then keyed the standard lasers on the higher pulse. She must have had enough about standard lasers to know they carried less of a charge than twins and doubles, and to make up for the disparity, rates and ranges of fire were controllable, allowing even distribution among multiple targets.

"There they are.." She looked ahead to the line ships that had just appeared in the sky out of nowhere. "I'd better go back for our masks just in case."

He reached out to catch her just as she'd swung the chair around and got up. "Hey, don't take too long, I need you up here." To that she had bowed and pecked him a kiss on the head before leaving him alone. Seconds later, Falco's voice scraped in over the static.

"Fox? You're at it again? Why the hell does it seem no matter where you go, you attract a swarm of space maggots? You owe me this time, pal."

Fox pulled on his headset and turned on its mouthpiece. "Falco, give me a time estimate."

"I can't go any faster than what I'm goin'...You just hold together 'til I get there."

_Hold together...Yeah, that'll be a piece of cake..._

Krystal screamed.

"Krystal!" He looked back and saw her at the rear, pushing her body against the door that led to the main circuitry compartment, struggling to keep whatever it was on the other side.

"Fox! I can't....."

He flipped on the autopilot and snapped out of his restraints just as the door gave way to a strange slithering wormlike alien that roared then wrapped its thick tentacles around her legs, entangling her, then dragged her back through the opening. Finally were her piercing cries, more chilling than any he'd heard in his entire life....

"Hey Fox!" Falco shouted. "What was that? What the heck are you two doin' out there!"

Fox threw down the headset and dashed for the doorway while the ship held its course straight ahead. He pulled his blaster and set it ready as he made it to the deck entrance of the circuitry area. A mix of whirring motors and popping of severed circuits in the dim lighting were just enough to make his fur stand on end. With the blaster drawn in front of him, he did a point check, swinging from left to right. It was when he swung right that something clinched his forearm. He jumped a bit as he was taken by surprised then looked down, seeing the hand of his dear blue vixen, the communicator attached snugly to her wrist. With blaster raised, he immediately spun around, discovering her trapped to the wall in the clutches of the worm, its tentacles binding tightly around her neck and choking her, and her eyes glistened, watching him in desperation when he aimed the gun. He took a few steps back after prying her hand from his arm, knowing he had but one chance at a clean hit and his grip couldn't waver an inch, that a miss could hit her neck, kill her instantly at such close range, or blow right through the side of her face. No time to waste, he stood firm and got a good look at his target, bringing the blaster in closer to his muzzle, scope to his eye. Couldn't blink. Steady hand. One shot. He fired. The thing made a hissing sound and squeezed at her one last time before it fell away, and Krystal fell limply into his arms when the hissing returned somewhere nearby, and he aimed his blaster again at the thing that slithered away faster that he could fire.

"My God..." she whispered. "It's still alive...."

He held her then pulled back after noticing three small marks on the nape of her neck with no traces of blood, but before he got the chance to mention it, the alarms started ringing in front.

"And they're still out there.." This time he grabbed her hand and tugged her back with him, but she stopped halfway and retrieved her staff from the storage compartment.

A swift check of the indicators reported the second shield knocked out. They were off course. Krystal turned her chair as to see behind her while she radioed Falco again and gave him all the vitals on the situation which he relayed to Peppy. Five enemies were left now, and Fox did a quick scan of their fire and found out it was actually live ballistics... _Alive..._

"Dammit, they're firing those things at us..."

"What?"

"Look at the scan."

She leaned slightly toward to read the display. "Globins. Free organisms used as weapons. Able to penetrate energy fields. Adheres itself to solid objects as a method of attack. Extremely sensitive to light. Bloodsuckers. Expels deadly venom at full maturity..."

"It wasn't full grown," Fox quickly clarified when Krystal looked horrified and for the first time he saw her touch the bite marks on her neck. "Look at the diagram."

"But how long does it take for one to reach full maturity?"

"Scroll down."

She tapped the screen and read further. "Two months."

Fox took a few more shots and knocked two ships out of the sky. "We'll have these guys capped and this thing landed long before that..."

Krystal was still able to focus on the targets, calling them out, and soon picked up her headset from its clip on the console and adjusted it on her head, another gift he'd given to her before take off, one that that she'd accepted with delight. He'd even remembered her exact words: _...I love the things you give to me, and when we get to the planet, I'll thank you for each and every one...and even more..._   

"That thing stung me," She rubbed the wound. "It hurts a little."

Her discomfort gave him even more of an incentive to bear down on the acceleration, had to land safely and get her checked out soon as possible.

"Hang on,"

The old ship cooperated with him when he gave the thrusters a good boost, increasing their speed by a mach and tore through the black sky. That led to a chase, ten of them on his tail, scattering lasers ahead of him, a few hitting his rear hard and jolting Krystal forward in her seat. The fact that they were messing with him like that capulted him into a seething anger, made him want to break and roll into attack mode, then blast them all out of existence if only he'd had his Arwing instead of this heavily worn, hard to maneuver, mound of bulk. Additionally, if only there were better weapons aboard, and he'd wished he had let Slippy test out that conduit that could've been used to form an electrical force field around Krystal's ship--something that could have worked well on those worms penetrating the hull. Fox knew the sound of them, like a thud. The next hit knocked out the stabilizers, forcing him to deal not only with the shooting but the steering as well which was now virtually impossible. In all the noise, Krystal was suddenly quiet.

"What's our location?" He asked just to check and looked over at her when she didn't respond. "Krystal?"

She rubbed her forehead, and her face had turned somewhat of ashen blue. "I....I don't feel good," then she got up after removing her headset, appearing wobbly, and headed to the back again.

"Krystal--" Fox called to her and saw when she turned into the bathroom, so worried he couldn't concentrate, didn't even notice the barrage of incoming projectiles that he could've intercepted if he'd seen them in time. In the next minute the bombs pounded them, broke through the last shield and finished off what was left of the guidance system.

*******

Falco made a final pass around the area where Fox and Krystal had called for help. "I don't see a thing, Peppy. Nothing. You got anything from that Earthwalker?"

"He hasn't heard from them either," Peppy answered sorrowfully. "Falco, I think you'd better come on back. There's not too much we can do now except wait to hear from them again. They just might be heading there but can't contact anyone if the com's been knocked out."

"Yeah, guess you're right." Falco turned around and headed home even though he had a funny feeling about doing so.


	7. Dial A Prayer

author note & disclaimer:

I've wanted more than anything to get the ball rolling on this story again. It's changed quite a bit in the process. Sorry for that. From now on I will not update unless I've really got time to focus and put out something halfway decent.

and...

I DON'T OWN STAR FOX. I DO OWN THE NINTENDO 64 GAME AND SFA. THEREFORE I HAVE PAID INTO THE FRANCHISE, BUT I'M MAKING NO MONEY FROM IT. SORRY IF MY STORIES DON'T FULFILL ANYONE'S EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT A STAR FOX STORY SHOULD BE BUT JUST DON'T SUE ME FOR IT.

Much gratitude to those who have read, reviewed & have offered words of wisdom=^-^=

Strangers No More

Ev^-^

___________________________________________________________________

Dial A Prayer

"We've made it....Listen to that..."

Nothing.

"You okay?"

Krystal looked at Fox from where she leaned exhaustedly against the bathroom door. She'd gotten sick, probably from that bite, he told her, but it was over now. Everything had turned out okay.

"We're a little busted up but I think I can get this thing back on course with a little work."

She tiredly wiped her dampened forehead with the back of her hand. "How bad is it?"

"Our shields are gone. Fact is, just about everything's been taken out....our weapons, the stabilizers, the guidance system,"

"The guidance system?" She ripped away and sprinted to the front, hastily tapped the controls as she knew they'd lost the most crucial function of space travel. One more time she pressed the map indicator and received no response. "We're drifting," She said as he had come beside her. "We can't do anything without a guidance system. We could float out here forever and no one would ever find us..." Then she recalled another very important issue and looked to the back. "That thing...it's growing....two months,"

"Now just hold on a sec, Krysie. We won't be out here two months."

"Sure we'll be dead by then."

"Hey," He came forward, pulled her to him. "We can make it. I'll make the repairs and we'll get back."

"And how will you make those repairs? All the circuits are back there....with that creature."

"I'll have to do some of it from outside," He walked over to the sensors and tapped the ventilation unit. "For one thing, we're losing air. And that creature is no longer one, but several, and they must've worked their way into the valves. I'll have to run a line from back there to the front. It can be done if I change a few connections, but it'll all have to be done from out there..."

"No!"

"No?" He furled out a sort of discrediting laugh and glanced back at the sensors. "You're telling me not to go out there? Just tuck my tail between my legs and let both of us die? Look, what we need to do is rig a device that can support me. You do have cables, right?"

She did. Short. Long. Getting them was a matter of inches to the storage compartment, even so, knowing what he'd be up against and the thought him paying for her mistake....

"I'll do it."

The coloring in his eyes fused almost instantly from their normal scintillating green into a translucent shade of cobalt blue. "No way,"

She stepped to the compartment, got a grip of the handle, hesitated turning it. "If anyone's going to get us out of this, I should. I got us into it--"

"This isn't your fault, Krystal. I agreed with you, remember?" His hand went on the latch with a stronger than her push. Finally the door was opened and the cables in full view.

"Against your better judgment."

A frown slowly formed on his brow just before he reached over her to retrieve the gear and propelled it over his shoulder, slammed the door, then went to the center of the cabin where he got down onto his knees and put down the cables for a thorough check. It seemed that he'd made sure to turn his back to her, his bushy tail that usually swung with ease around her, sadly motionless.

"You know, you should have listened to your mentor instead of me," Krystal pressed on, although once she'd started, she began to feel a bit nauseous again. "He looks out for you like a father. You were the one who told me that. He doesn't want anything to happen to you. If anything, Peppy was only trying to...   You're not listening, are you?"

He stared at her briefly then shifted his attention back to the cables as she continued.

"I'd be very grateful if I had someone like him in my life..."

His fidgeting with the cords halted abruptly, his gaze traveled slowly upward and into her eyes.  "That's enough," he said, bringing out a utility knife that he'd used to splice wire and stabbed it into the mound of twine.

"I'm sorry, Fox. I'm not trying to hurt you...that's the last thing I would want..."

No answer. Brief silence.

"Get an extra line for the harness," He seemed to command, not request. "And I'm hoping you've got a good set of tools."

Having nothing else to say, she brought out the toolbox and stayed nearby to lend a hand.

In about thirty minutes they had constructed the harness and attached it snugly to the cable. An oxygen mask was also needed along with a couple of small tanks. They worked persistently, Fox building the device as she assisted him as would an electrician and his apprentice, her putting each tool in his hand as he asked for it and listening attentively to him as he spoke out loud from time to time just to break the tension.

"I've done this plenty of times before.......  ....Just have to make sure all the latches are secure....   ...trim down all the excess...."

He finished up and she helped get the harness onto him, and he pulled up the cord with hooks on the end that he'd attach to the brackets on the ship's hull. Lastly, he picked up the mask and raised it to his face,

"Wait," Krystal stopped him to peck one last kiss on his muzzle. "I couldn't let you go without that."

They were both quiet, eyes locked on each other when he nudged his muzzle against her cheek then pulled away.

"I want you to keep an eye on the air sensors. Let me know the second anything changes." He shifted a bit then took her right hand and opened it, grabbed his blaster and put it there. "If anything moves, kill it."

The sensor held steady for a long time after he'd gone. At least it had seemed a long time, but when Krystal looked at the timer it had been only six minutes. Those six had seemed like an hour. Not much longer before the digital readout started dropping again, and soon it had plunged below the safety line, which was when her lungs started feeling tight and her head a little lighter. Distant objects had just started getting blurry when all of a sudden the front controls lit up, then she immediately checked the air sensor. The numbers were climbing slowly back to normal.

_"...Krystal....I'm coming in..."_

The sound of his voice on the intercom gave her a great sense of elation and she anxiously opened the air lock then went out through a circular chamber that led out to the lower deck. It was basically a cargo hold—another standard in transports—with interlocking center bay doors on the floor. All she had to do then was punch the release then hold onto the rails surrounding its porthole as the doors parted side to side. Fox was right there when they did, looking up at her with his back to the sky when she reached for his hand. It had all gone smoothly until the ship jolted forward all of sudden, causing their link to separate, and he tumbled away, and the sudden movement had been so rough that it threw her to the floor. She screamed his name into the blackness of space then, hearing nothing for so long that she had even contemplated jumping but realized how terribly foolish that would have been, and as she had almost broken down to cry, a hand came up, grasping onto the outer rail. Her strength sharply replenished, she'd crawled up and reached out to get him and with both hands tugged him in. During the struggle she grabbed at any and every part of him she could, an arm, a leg, his tail, until finally he had enough leverage to pull up the rails, climb over, and he fell onto her, slammed the palm of his hand onto the button that engaged the airlock, and at last the doors were closed. After that was done, Fox pulled off the mask along with the two oxygen canisters and tossed it all aside.

"I wonder what made that happen?" he panted and raised up, helped her as well, then noticed something he hadn't felt in quite a while. "We're not drifting, we're actually moving. That must've been it. A speed increase...  Come on, we'd better get back up there and see what's going on."

She knelt one more time to retrieve mask and canisters, then noted on their readings that they had been empty for almost two minutes. Knowing that, she turned and to see him for a moment, and understood that just a little more time out there would have taken him away from her indefinitely. And so with one hand holding the gear and the other locked in his, she quietly went back with him to the top level, unaware of anything else until looking ahead to the sky.

"Fox! Look!" She let him go and dashed to the front. From there it almost didn't appear to be real.       _The mothership._     Great Fox. 

Fox hurried over to the map indicator and sent his code via communicator. "They're not answering but we're obviously headed toward it so they must be pulling us in."

He then sat down again and patted the other chair for her to join him, and he checked the contents of his pack that was between them while she studied the huge ship ahead with unspoken suspicion. __

_I shouldn't....His team is there, and we've made it back. There will be nothing else to worry about. _

Then an abnormal chilling sensation traveled the length of her spine.

_________

"Krystal? Hello? A good flight attendant never drifts off into her own little world when the pilot wants more coffee...." Fox outstretched an empty cup in front of her but she briskly shoved it back at him and huffed out a reply.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes right now...And I'm not your flight attendant."

"Right," He smiled in jest, put down the mug, then tapped at the manual landing controls. "...You're more like my flight instructor. ...Like this, for instance...what the hell's wrong here? Everything's lit and going haywire. Krystal.  Hey... are you listening or what? This is no time to go blank on me, babe..."

"They're pulling us in," She replied in a daze and her voice sounded strangely monotonic. "And the team...."

"Yeah, the team. They're pulling us in."

"No, not them..."

She was then stiff, quiet, hauntingly emotionless. On the other hand, the possibility of the team facing an unknown danger hadn't so much as crossed Fox's mind so far, but now he began to wonder why they didn't answer and distressingly rubbed his face, then shook off such unpleasant thoughts. Consequently, they were jarred from his mind by the suddenly rumbling floor under the soles of his shoes and loud clicking sounds from the underside as the transport made its assisted descent toward the landing dock.

"What--"

Before he could get out another word the clicking noises got louder.

"Pressure valves," He watched the indicators closely, noted the landing gear lamps flickering. "Jeez, I know Slippy checked that. They must've taken damage from the laser strikes....  This could mean trouble, Krystal...Krystal?  Oh man...not again,"

Without delay, he spun around in the chair, getting a hand on his holster before making what he expected was another turn at coming to her rescue but instead got a good dose of the unexpected when he saw her on the bed leaning toward her personal cubby hole where she swiftly removed an unknown object and concealed it somewhere underneath her cloak.

Fox spun the chair back to the front and took one good deep breath. Then again. Turned back around. Krystal was still on the bed, finally adjusting whatever it was she had just hidden from him and pulled her cloak nicely over her shoulders. He turned back to the controls before she could catch him spying.

Onboard was also an automatic landing indicator flashing on the control panel, and it read twenty-five minutes until docking with the Great Fox; not much time, he thought to himself, because if the problem with the landing gear was what he suspected then that was pretty much it for them. Nothing could be done if the transport collapsed on impact. Developing a pressure leak while being pulled into a gravitation field was deadly—the ship would be crushed like an aluminum can with its vacuum seal breached, the pressure alleviated with violent force, and everything inside expelled in the huge explosion as nothing more than particles of dust and metal and scattered debris that would blow back out through the bay exit into the sky. But he couldn't worry Krystal over this. Furthermore he didn't dare let any negative thoughts about her drift back into his head. Far as he was concerned, this was her first mission as a member of Star Fox whether the guys approved or not, as she'd done well enough to pass any test that any one of them could have dished out by proving her strength, her ability to ability to learn, and a consistent level of awareness. Why was he needing more proof? She was just a girl who had traveled the galaxy in search of answers to the deaths of her parents and decimation of her planet. Her parents. Dead, just like his. She'd been honest with him all along and he had no reason to believe she had anything to hide. Nevertheless, his suspicion had begun to creep back in.

Not knowing what else to do then, he pulled the com off the dash and tried a few times to make contact with the team. "Peppy...  Slippy... Falco..."  And he leaned back in the chair after getting nothing, and saw that Krystal had come back and was standing near, gazing at him with that same blank expression.

"They won't answer,"

He'd barely heard her over the hard pounding clicks which now rattled throughout the hull.

"You sound sure," He was swift and direct, shooting up from the chair and getting right onto her. "You're absolutely certain they won't answer. Why is that, Krystal?"

A frightened look was also in her eyes as he approached her then became steadily focused. She appeared ready for a confrontation, so ready that she had even predetermined where he'd frisk her first, because as his hands went underneath her cloak, she grabbed them, tried her best at prying him off while he pursued a quest to find something and soon won out in the struggle. The object he found was hard and metal...a weapon with a trigger and thick barrel. With a good grip on the handle, snatched it from the place where she'd tucked it between her skirt and her glowing blue fur, then spun her into his arms and had her locked in, her weapon revealed. Once that was done he forced her back against the wall and held up his discovery in plain view.

"Handgun, semi-automatic," He held it down, checked the cartridge. "Loaded. Like new."

There was another short scuffle where she tried getting it back but didn't succeed as he held it up and away while wrestling her off of him.

"Don't tell me you're a hired assassin—"

"Give it back!" She yelled and made a feisty attempt at grabbing it.

"Who's your target? Not me, I hope,"

"No, not you!"

"Then who? Falco?  Slippy? ...Peppy?.."

"No, not anyone! Just give it back! It's mine! I need it!"

"For what?"

"Protection!"

"From who? What?"

She reached for it again but failed. "Just give it to me!"

"You can't just go firing off one of these things on a spaceship, Krystal..."

Looked like she was really panicking then. Her eyes kept shifting to the front where the landing dock had come into full view and the lights inside were casting shadows on the dim transport cockpit.

"We're landing!" She screamed and pointed forward.

The hull vibrated violently, the clicking sounds were then so loud that it was painful on the eardrums.

"Yeah, we're landing. Good thing about that is we've still got time left to say a few prayers of forgiveness before we crash!"

"Crash?"

He backed away, tucked her gun under his belt. "That sound you're hearing is a pressure leak. If we land too hard, we'll break up. If that happens, the force pulling us in spikes. We'll go down and the sudden release of pressure splits us into a billion pieces...I mean everything, including you and me."

She looked to the front in sudden desperation then snatched away and ran to the controls, "We can pull back out, can't we? That's what we'll have to—"

"If you're looking to kill us both even sooner that'll do it..." He caught her just in time to move her hands away from the controls. "A reverse right now would tear the hull from one end to the other. I think what I need right now is for you to tell me why you're so scared of going back."

He could feel her hands trembling in his, could see the fear in her eyes.

"...It's a trap..." she said in whisper. "That's why I wanted us to leave...because the last thing I'd want is for you to be hurt. He was relying on catching you here..."

"He? Who's he?"

"Everything that happened in the last days of Cerinia's existence was my fault. I could've stopped it. I never even knew.."

"Krystal—" Fox wanted details, not confessions.

"I didn't know who he was....but then....Tira..."

"Tira?"

"She was my best friend. We were brought up in the same sect. She was killed trying to escape..."

He scratched behind his ear. "Excuse me if I'm not seeing how this fits in."

"No one would admit to it but I happen to know she was murdered, accused of spying for the enemy. I could have been murdered as well if not for him. He saved me from being murdered by our king by putting me onto one of his ships to get out. Next thing I knew, Cerinia had been destroyed. If not for him, I would have been dead, too, and so I swore after that I owed my life to him and pledged my services to him..."

Fox perked up immediately. "Hold it. Your services?"

"I worked for him. I received the distress signal from Dino Planet through him and met with him again after you rescued me. He came there and told me there was just one last thing he wanted."

"And that was?"

"Your ship. The Great Fox,"

"Whoa...." He jammed his fist into his chest to make the block of air he'd swallowed go down "I'm not believing this..."

"You don't understand. I was told things about you...He told me you'd do anything just for money... He really had me convinced that you'd set everything up with General Scales and made it look like you killed Andross just so you would look like a hero—"

Fox lapsed into pathetic laughter. "Made it look like I killed Andross?"

"Yes, he said it wasn't really him...that you were fighting a fake. He says Andross is still alive and you were very well aware..."

"Just hold it. For the last time, who the hell is it?" He watched her tense up then he took a quick glimpse at the countdown reading. "We've got five minutes 'til landing and you're gonna tell me who this guy is before we hit zero."

With her efforts to keep stalling, he flipped back a few pages of his memory to a conversation they had not long after she first came aboard the Great Fox. There had been mention of Andross and his connection to General Scales, and the odd thing about that which Fox still had a hard time figuring out was how Krystal had called Andross a mean old ape. How could she have known Andross's origins when the only time she saw him was at Krazoa Palace with that mask of a Krazoa god over his head? And when it came to his empowerment of General Scales, she seemed to have answers, stating how she knew he was a scientific genius with a maniacal mind. How did she know? Who provided her with the information?

"I pledged an oath, Fox," she said after a good lengthy stance of silence. "You should know about these things, shouldn't you? Just like your allegiance to Star Fox?"

"Meaning you pledged an oath to this leader of some kind of rogue merc unit and you're not gonna tell me who it is..."

"He believes you're just another one who wants ultimate power over this universe,"

"I guess you know how crazy all this sounds. And we've got three minutes--"

She didn't seem to like at all the way he pressed at her. "You don't understand,"

"I understand perfectly," Fox's brows were at ease, then lowered into a hard frown. "Now who is he?"

It was a strange feeling just for that moment, being that Krystal never was really part of the team after all, and now if the disaster he was expecting did happen, she would die with him not as a member of Star Fox, but perhaps an adversary, and even if they survived the landing, and if he eventually found the rest of his crew unharmed and intact, she would be a highly guarded prisoner, no longer trusted, no longer the ideal mate he'd come to know so well...

The seconds ticked down under two and her eyes were deeply focused into his as she finally broke her loyalty and disclosed the identity of her leader. "...His name is Wolf O'Donnell..." She bowed her head for a second or two, then looked back into Fox's suddenly forlorn gaze.

"Good...." He started, "...God..." his the heart seeming to cave in. "...You...." hitting him so hard that he couldn't form his mouth to speak, couldn't think beyond the connection: 

 ..._Krystal..Star Wolf....Andross...._

"He never did anything to make me suspicious of him." she insisted.

"Yeah...but he'll do just about anything for money as long as it's for the other side."

_The other side..._ Krystal had thought of how Lylat was broken up into many different sectors of independent republics and planets. "What other side?"

Fox picked up his backpack, put it onto the chair behind him. "Which ever one I'm not on."

After they both stood there awkwardly, Fox could barely look at her as another thought crossed his mind. "So you were traveling the galaxy before we met. But you couldn't have done that without some kind of assistance...you know... food...shelter. Where was that, Krystal? Where has your home been since Cerinia was destroyed?"

Again, she bowed her head, and softly, she answered. "Venom."

The entrance alarms started ringing outside and the landing gear made a loud bumping noise as it extended from the transport's belly. Yet he couldn't help but think of how long she'd lived on Venom and what she might have been doing all while she was there, and in the span of seconds he envisioned her with Wolf, taking his orders, fulfilling his wishes, no telling what else....  A bitter taste coated Fox's tongue then, and the palms of his hands felt just as hot as his heart felt bloodless.

"Fox, I—"

She pounced forward but he moved back and went to the bed where he immediately got a good grip around the metal floor to ceiling end post.

"Grab something and hang on." He made it nothing more than an order from a commander to his subordinate, and she obeyed, although not as he'd expected.

She went to him, tightened her arms around his waist, tucked her head upon his shoulder, and he'd tried hard not to let it happen but his heart was suddenly thumping strong again and felt even heavier, same as the low sigh he had released and the inability to keep from gently holding her head against him as the transport entered the final stage of its descent into the dock. The clicking noises then became hollers of structural weakness as it touched down onto its right, "We're tilting..." Krystal gasped as the ship went aslant and the noise intensified, and Fox knew he heard a few gaskets blowing which he figured was all just a matter of time until the screeching in his ears became the abrupt pop that would suck them out into the sky with bone-shattering force. He soon felt air rushing around him and heard the hissing of the ventilation system, then, the left side lowered gradually, until the craft sloshed down flush with the landing pad, then silence.


End file.
